Dengue outbreaks in high-income area, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, 2003-2009

Emerg Infect Dis. 2012 Oct;18(10):1603-11. doi: 10.3201/eid1810.111929.

Abstract

Kaohsiung City, a modern metropolis of 1.5 million persons, has been the focus of dengue virus activity in Taiwan for several decades. The aim of this study was to provide a temporal and spatial description of dengue virus epidemiology in Kaohsiung City by using data for all laboratory-confirmed dengue cases during 2003-2009. We investigated age- and sex-dependent incidence rates and the spatiotemporal patterns of all cases confirmed through passive or active surveillance. Elderly persons were at particularly high risk for dengue virus-related sickness and death. Of all confirmed cases, ≈75% were detected through passive surveillance activities; case-patients detected through active surveillance included immediate family members, neighbors, and colleagues of confirmed case-patients. Changing patterns of case clustering could be due to the effect of unmeasured environmental and demographic factors.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Dengue / diagnosis
  • Dengue / epidemiology*
  • Dengue / virology
  • Dengue Virus / genetics*
  • Dengue Virus / isolation & purification
  • Disease Outbreaks*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Population Surveillance / methods
  • Socioeconomic Factors*
  • Space-Time Clustering
  • Spatio-Temporal Analysis
  • Taiwan / epidemiology
  • Urban Population / statistics & numerical data*
  • Young Adult